EP 15 : Church Security

Violent attacks and incidents have been on the rise for the last three years straight with a crescendo last year making 2018 the most violent year in faith-based organizational history. Because violence at churches and places of worship is becoming more and more prevalent it has sparked the growth of a new frontier in the private security industry. The unfortunate reality appears to be that faith-based organizations tend to be targets of violence for a number of different reasons organic to their natural functions. These days faith-based organizations are not just worried about the other religious extremists but things like domestic violence which is actually the number one cause for violence on many campuses are just one of many salient considerations with regards to protecting a facility and its congregation. Insurance companies are now becoming more and more interested in the security measures these organizations are putting in place and parishioners are also beginning to look at the quality of security as an important component that is necessary for worshiping safely. How do you put your security program in place while honoring your faith and contributing to your organizational goals and mission? These are the types of questions we help answer in the following podcast as I talked with Luke Agajanian who is the director of security at a mega church on the West Coast and a man that I’ve worked all over the world with in the faith-based genre of the security game. Just a few of the topics - Church politics - Friction points to implementing your security program - Winning the congregation over - Protecting the place or the person? - Bag searches - Hiring retired law enforcement personnel - Positioning - Kicking people out of the sanctuary - Who to bring on your security team? - How to use all assets and leverage other departments - equipment - Pastoral protection - Where to place who - Setting up your overall security structure and strategy